The British Library is offering free advice on market research for small businesses, through a series of workshops at its business and intellectual property centre.

The Knowing Your Market workshops, sponsored by Yellow Pages, will show how small business owners can use the libraryâs freely available resources, and other resources on the internet, to conduct effective desk research.

Isabel Oswell, head of business marketing at the British Library, said: âMany entrepreneurs fall at the first hurdle because they havenât carried out any basic market researchâ¦ This workshop [aims] to equip people with the skills and confidence to identify and access vital published information on customers, competitors and trends.â?

The workshops will be held regularly throughout the second half of the year.